The Israeli military confirmed Wednesday that Hamas hostage Sahar Baruch was killed during a failed rescue attempt last month but said the details of his death have not been determined.
The military said it told Baruch’s family that an investigation thus far has failed to determine whether Baruch was killed by Hamas or by friendly fire during the rescue operation conducted Dec. 8 by Israeli special forces. Hamas claimed at the time that Baruch was killed by Israeli forces and published footage that appeared to show his body.
Baruch’s death was initially announced Dec. 9 in a joint statement issued by Kibbutz Be’eri and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Baruch, 25, was seized along with about 240 other people during the Hamas-led assault on Israeli border communities Oct. 7. Baruch’s brother, Edan, was among 1,200 killed that day.
Edan and Sahar reportedly were at home when militants broke in and threw grenades into their safe room, kibbutz officials have said. The home was set ablaze, and the brothers escaped out a window. Sahar went back to get an inhaler for Edan, who was asthmatic, and was captured. Edan was fatally shot, the officials said.
Two Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded in the rescue effort, the military said after the incident.
Saleh al-Arouri killed:Top Hamas leader dies in Israeli strike
Developments:
∎ Jailed Palestinian Marwan Barghouti has petitioned an Israeli court to remove him from the isolation wing of Ayalon Prison, alleging mistreatment by guards and poor conditions. Barghouti, regarded by some as the Palestinian Nelson Mandela and a future candidate to lead the Palestinian Authority, was arrested by Israel in 2002 and is serving five life terms for planning three terror attacks that killed five Israelis.
∎ The Israeli military said it conducted an airstrike on a weapons manufacturing plant belonging to Islamic Jihad in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
∎ French President Emmanuel Macron warned Israel against contemplating a forced displacement of Gaza residents, saying it would go against global support for a long-term, two-state solution.
Shipping giant Maersk pauses transit:Red Sea shipping halted after attack, raising inflation fears
Israel braces for attacks after death of key Hamas figure
Israel was on high alert for retaliatory strikes Wednesday after the killing of a top Hamas military leader in Beirut, Lebanon, although Israeli officials have not claimed responsibility for the drone attack. “We are on high readiness for any scenario,” Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.
Israeli authorities have issued no formal comment on the death Tuesday of Saleh al-Arouri, second in command of Hamas. However, since the Oct. 7 attack when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 240 hostages, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to track down Hamas leaders wherever they are based.
David Barnea, chief of Israel’s Mossad security force, on Wednesday said he wanted to “let every Arab mother know that if her son took part in the (Oct. 7) massacre), he signed his own death warrant.”
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday his militants would not be deterred by Arouri’s death, and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah pledged “this crime will never pass without response and punishment.” Several rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
“A movement whose leaders and founders fall as martyrs for the dignity of our people and our nation will never be defeated,” Haniyeh, who is based in the Qatari capital of Doha, said in a televised address translated by The Times of Israel.
EU official fears Middle East could become ‘engulfed in flames’
A diplomatic solution ending the war must likely be “imposed from outside” since Hamas and Israel are not close to a resolution of their conflict, the European Union’s chief diplomat said Wednesday. Josep Borrell, speaking at a diplomatic seminar in Lisbon, said international involvement is needed because the two sides “will never be able to understand each other,” the Lusa News Agency and Euronews reported. Borrell provided no specifics on how a global action could work or what the terms of such a peace would be. And he acknowledged that even EU member nations have been unable to agree on a unanimous a call for a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza
“If this tragedy doesn’t end soon, I fear that all of the Middle East will see itself engulfed in flames,” he said.
Egypt pushes its peace plan for Gaza
An Israeli delegation was in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss Egypt’s multistage proposal for ending the war, Egyptian officials said. Under the plan, which neither Israel nor Hamas has entirely rejected or approved, all of the more than 100 remaining militant-held hostages would eventually be released as would thousands of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Israel would withdraw from Gaza and a government of Palestinian technocrats would rule the enclave and parts of the occupied West Bank pending formal elections.
More than 100 die in blast at gravesite of Iranian general killed by US
At least 100 people were killed and scores more wounded in explosions at a ceremony in Iran honoring Gen. Qassem Soleimani, slain in a U.S. airstrike in 2020, Iranian media reported Wednesday. The Tehran Times said more than 140 people were injured in two explosions taking place in the southern Iranian city of Kerman as the country marks the 4th martyrdom anniversary of Soleimani’s death. Two blasts were heard in quick succession near the general’s tomb, and rescue teams were dispatched to the scene to help the injured, the Times said.
Deadly explosions:More than 100 killed at event honoring Iranian general killed by US
Israeli minister rejects US criticism of ‘voluntary emigration’ plan for Gaza
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Wednesday doubled down on his push for “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians in Gaza to other countries despite strong opposition from the U.S., one of Israel’s few global allies. The U.S. State Department issued a statement Tuesday condemning the “inflammatory and irresponsible” comments by Smotrich and another far-right official, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
“There should be no mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. Smotrich countered on social media that more than 70% of Israel’s population of 9 million people support encouraging Arabs to leave Gaza.
“A small country like ours cannot afford a reality where four minutes away from our settlements there is a hotbed of hatred and terrorism where two million people who wake up every morning with aspiration for the destruction of the State of Israel and with a desire to slaughter and rape and murder Jews wherever they are,” Smotrich wrote.
Contributing: The Associated Press
